2013

The count of known asteroids and comets that can come close to Earth continues to mount. The 10,000th near-Earth object, asteroid 2013 MZ5, was detected on June 18, 2013, by the Pan-STARRS-1 telescope.

Earth-orbiting satellites have found the coldest place on Earth. No surprise: It's in Antarctica. The coldest of the cold temperatures dropped to minus 135.8 F (minus 93.2 C) -- several degrees below the previous record.

Astronauts aren't the only ones who need to worry about solar flares. High-latitude air travelers can also be exposed to significant doses of radiation during solar storms. A new computer model developed by NASA aims to help protect the public by predicting space weather hazards to aviation.

The Geminid meteor shower is underway. Forecasters say the best time to look is during the dark hours before sunrise on Saturday morning, Dec. 14th. Dark-sky observers could see dozens of bright shooting stars.

Drinking coffee in space is surprisingly tricky. Physicists researching the strange behavior of fluids onboard the International Space Station have invented a zero-g coffee cup to make the morning "cuppa Joe" a little easier to swallow.